A Burford woman who stole almost $1 million from her CIBC employer was given a remarkably light sentence in Ontario Court last week due to her equally remarkable response to the crimes.

Margaret Pepper, 56, was sentenced to a form of house arrest for two years rather than being sent to jail, which is typical for frauds of that magnitude.

“When I first received this file I screened it for a penitentiary sentence,” admitted assistant Crown attorney Larry Brock at Pepper’s sentencing hearing.

But through discussions, the Crown’s office came to agree with Pepper’s defence lawyer, Dean Paquette, that the woman was already doing everything in her power to rehabilitate herself.

Pepper’s story began when she and co-workers from the CIBC’s Lynden Park Mall branch celebrated a birthday at the Brantford Casino.

It started a major gambling addiction for the woman as she returned repeatedly to the casino, eventually spending $100,000 of her own funds.

Paquette said Pepper went to her employer seeking help for her addiction but was given short-shrift and offered no counselling.

According to police, Pepper then began using her bank position to transfer money between client accounts and open new accounts in the names of some clients.

Her scheme worked from October 2010 until November 2014 when an internal bank audit uncovered the theft.

By that time, the bank had lost nearly $1 million, although it ensured no clients were out of pocket. The bank wasn’t initially named because it insisted, as the victim of a crime, it didn’t want to be identified.

Pepper wasn’t charged until February 2016 and by that time, despondent at what she had done, she tried to take her own life.

With family help, the court was told, she opted for redemption. She got into a residential addiction facility, started attending Gamblers Anonymous, saw medical doctors, a psychiatrist, a psychologist and an addictions counsellor.

And she got a lawyer.

“Ms. Pepper’s addiction was a mental illness,” said lawyer Dean Paquette. “She sought help from her superiors and didn’t get it and was driven to such desperate straights she was ready to kill herself.”

Now, said Paquette, she has done “everything in her power to try and fix this.”

The defender and prosecutor agreed that Pepper should face an extended sentence of house arrest and a free-standing restitution order in favour of the bank should she ever come into money.

Justice Gethin Edward said Pepper had been extremely proactive about her rehabilitation. She has performed community service and moved to her father-in-law’s Burford area farm where she milks cows, goes to church, counselling and doctors appointments, and cuts grass at three farms.

The judge asked each lawyer to justify the jail-free sentence to an imaginary member of the public and then said he wanted to address the “elephant in the room” – the similar and highly publicized Imola fraud case which has been wending its way through the justice system for five-and-a-half years.

Pepper stole almost $1 million from her employer and isn’t going to jail. Christina Paige Imola, 51, has been found guilty of stealing $500,000 from her former employer and Brock is seeking a penitentiary term of three years.

“The difference is substantial,” explained Brock.

“Ms. Pepper took immediate responsibility, admitted everything to police, retained counsel and took steps to deal with her addiction issues. The other offender is still expressing no remorse.”

Brock added that Pepper blames no one but herself while evidence in his other case shows that Imola has blamed the system, the police, the Crown’s office and the victims while denying all responsibilty for her actions.

“And (Pepper) was addicted before she took any money from the bank,” added Paquette. “Addiction, whether it’s crack cocaine, Fentanyl, alcohol or gambling, changes the whole nature of an individual’s wiring.”

The judge noted Pepper saved the taxpayers the expense of a long, expensive fraud trial.

Pepper expressed her shame to the judge, saying she thinks about what she did to her employer each day.

“I take full responsibility for what I’ve done and I will accept any sentence and use it to benefit my life.”

Pepper said she’s been treated for depression and anxiety and now has an excellent support system of doctors and counsellors.

“I do my twice daily barn work and I’m working hard to be a better person, wife, and grandma. It may not be enough for what I’ve done but it’s all I have.”

The judge had harsh words for the Brantford casino which “had to have known Margaret Pepper was coming in”, at times twice a day, every day and losing considerable sums of money.

“I have an element of rage for a casino that allows that,” Edward said. “The eye in the sky at the casino had to know and yet this was allowed.”

The judge said Pepper’s case was the more common fallout of legalized gambling than the community’s previous worries about crime mobs and prostitution.

OLG spokesperson Tony Bitonti responded after the sentence that, like all Ontario casinos, Brantford has responsible gambling features that include training front-line workers to watch for red flag behaviour, self-exclusion programs and responsible gambling resource centres.

“There are more than 100 locations across the province where Ontarians can access free counselling and other problem gambling support services,” Bitonti said.

A CIBC spokesperson said the bank wasn’t in a position to comment on the sentence.

Pepper’s house arrest confines her for two years to the three Burford area farms where she’s working. She’s allowed to go to church, counselling and medical appointments as well as a once-a-week afternoon to get groceries and run errands.

She has to stay away from all CIBC branches and casinos, avoid all online gambling and complete 120 hours of community service.

“This case is what can happen when people take ownership of what they’ve done and correct their behaviours,” said Edward.